Simple. Reduce the amount of fermentables. A full volume boil with no top off water will also help to make this a better beer. Do you have any possibility of doing a full volume boil?

Quote:

Originally Posted by taylja06

The goal is to taste a family of hops while making a big, thick IIPA

You don't want to muddle the beer with a ton of malt presence then. Thick as in a creamy and heavy mouthfeel? If so, add some flaked oats to your partial mash of Maris Otter. How much grain can your system mash?

Here's an idea based on 4 gallons boiled down to 3 gallons of concentrated wort, then topped off with 2 gallons of plain water to level off at 5 in the primary. I would highly recommend trying to boil 6 gallons down to 5 though vs. topping off.

Do a 6 gal full boil down to 5 gallons final...no top off water. Whether that be all grain or partial mash. It seems as if you want a good deal of malt complexity with tons of hop character. You do know that you have to mash the MO, right? This isn't an extract recipe where you can just steep the grains.

Honestly I don't have the capacity to do a full 6 gal boil. I'm trying to incorporate all your advice, but need to cut down the boil size to do it. Would doing a 4gal boil while halving the ingredients work out?

I already gave you a hopville link of what I think would be along the lines of what you're looking for. It's based on a 4 gallon boil, not 6. With evaporation via the boil, you'll be left with about 3 gallons post-boil. Top off to 5 gallons in the fermenter if that's all you can do with your system.

Yes, thank you, I saw that. I was trying to write a recipe to do a half batch to incorporate your notes to learn for the future while also not having to top off the fermenter. I'm still 3 gravity points over on FG however.